Ingestible skincare products are on the rise: here’s why

Demand for ingestible products is growing as consumers adopt more holistic attitudes to skincare, research by Lycored has found.

The global wellness firm surveyed 490 consumers in the UK and France, exploring their attitudes to beauty and skin health. It revisited questions that it had previously asked five years ago, and found that much had changed.

Three in ten (30 percent) had purchased an ingestible skincare product over the past year – up from 14 percent in 2017. The figure was particularly high among 25-34 year olds (57 percent, compared to 16 percent of 55-64 year olds).

The research suggests that growing demand for beauty-from-within is rooted in increasingly holistic, health-focused attitudes to skincare. Seven in ten (70 percent) of the survey respondents said they used skincare products to keep their skin healthy and 69 percent said it was “to feel good about myself.” This “feelgood factor” was particularly evident among consumers in the 18-24 age bracket, 82 percent of whom said they used products to feel good about themselves.

By contrast, more cosmetic goals were not highly sought. Only 14 percent of the consumers surveyed – and just six percent of the over-65s – said looking young was important to them, and only 17 percent said they used skincare products to look attractive to others.

“The new generation of skincare consumers is much more interested in holistic skin health than traditional cosmetic signs of beauty. This focus on ‘from within’ factors has increased in recent years, especially during the pandemic, during which many consumers have valued overall health and self-care more than outward appearance. It’s a major reason for the boom in demand for ingestible skincare,” said Caroline Schroeder, Marketing Communications Manager at Lycored.

This trend reflects a broader pattern of consumers opting for functional products with tangible health benefits, with some even placing nutritional benefit above taste and flavour.